Kimi Antonelli finished at the top of EL2 of the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. The session was marked by two red flags and a big anger from the world champion.
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The first day of action at the Belgian Grand Prix ended with a small surprise: it was Kimi Antonelli who set the best time in Free Practice 2 at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Mercedes driver clocked a time of 1’45″944, ahead of Lando Norris by 0.190 seconds and Max Verstappen by 0.472 seconds. A performance that confirms Mercedes’ return to form after a quieter start to the weekend during FP1.
Behind this leading trio, Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar complete the top 5, while the hierarchy is still difficult to establish on a track where energy management could play a major role with the new 2026 regulations.
Verstappen furious
Although Max Verstappen finished third, the Dutchman had a far from peaceful session.
After only about twelve minutes, the Red Bull driver caused the first interruption by sending gravel onto the track after going off the racing line. The red flag however lasted only a few minutes.
But it was especially a very annoyed radio message that caught attention. Clearly unhappy with the behavior of his car, Verstappen sharply criticized his gear shifts.
“This is unacceptable” said the four-time world champion to his team.
A new sign of frustration as Red Bull goes through a difficult period and rumors about the future of the Dutch driver continue to stir the paddock.
Norris confirms, Russell struggles
Lando Norris also showed a solid pace by placing his McLaren in second place. The reigning world champion long threatened Antonelli before finally falling short by less than two tenths of the Mercedes driver.
In contrast, the session was much more complicated for George Russell. While his teammate dominated the session, the Briton could do no better than eighth place, nearly 1.3 seconds behind Antonelli.
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A particularly large gap that contrasts with the performance of the Mercedes garage and raises questions ahead of qualifying.
A violent crash for Pierre Gasly interrupts the long runs
After the first part of the session dedicated to medium tires and qualifying simulations with soft tires, the drivers focused on long runs at the end of FP2.
But the program was disrupted by a second red flag caused by Pierre Gasly.
The Frenchman lost control of his Alpine exiting turn 13 before violently hitting the wall. The impact heavily damaged his car, notably tearing off the rear wing and almost detaching a rear wheel.
On the radio, Gasly simply summarized the incident: “I completely lost the car.”
The session eventually resumed for the last two minutes, but no driver managed to improve their time.
Antonelli keeps the edge before the rest of the weekend
At the end of a turbulent session, Kimi Antonelli therefore leaves with the best time, ahead of Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton and Hadjar.
The top 10 is completed by Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto, George Russell, Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson.
A first day full of lessons at Spa: Mercedes seems to have found an excellent pace, but between Red Bull’s problems, surprising gaps and the unpredictable Ardennes weather, nothing seems decided yet before qualifying.
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2026 Belgian GP F1 FP2 standings:
